Touchstone Theatre and Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad presents the Western Canadian premiere of Daniel MacIvor’s play How it Works, directed by Touchstone’s Artistic Director Katrina Dunn. Al (Andrew Wheeler) is a cop whose teenage daughter (Anna Cummer) is hitting the drugs hard. It's not an ideal time for dating, but after a messy divorce from Donna (Katharine Venour), he needs a new start. Christine (Kerry Sandomirsky) arrives in his life with an antidote to all things ordinary, and some strange medicine for the girl with the angry heart. In this delicate puzzle of a play MacIvor approaches the family with characteristic honesty and inventiveness. The picture that emerges combines deeply human moments with East Coast humour and a surprising rethinking of themes we know well. Touchstone’s production brings some of Vancouver’s finest actors and designers to the interpretation of this important new work.
"…heartfelt, funny... beautifully crafted drama."
— The Chronicle Herald, Halifax
”…wise, witty and warm family drama, shot through with insights about the human condition.”
— The Toronto Star, Ontario
Palace Grand is a unique solo show which takes place in a theatre within the theatre: a miniature vaudeville stage which floats in space, inhabited by a single oppressed actor. An utterly physical evocation of an ill-fated expedition and a reliquary of sublimely beautiful and iconic artifacts from a mythic northern terrain, the play investigates a uniquely human condition: cacoethes scribendi—the incurable passion for writing. A sort of Yukon Heart of Darkness, Palace Grand cuts deep into the northernmost reaches of Canada on the trail of two men: Walker, a writer who disappears into the wilderness and The Tracker, a bounty hunter hired to find him. Together the two represent separate halves of a single narrative. What remains of this narrative is brought to life by a third man, The Operator of a remote transmitting station whose presence has little to do with their story, but without whom it would be lost.
Caught somewhere between Beckett and Chaplin and taking the mythic Klondike gold rush as its setting, this delirious snowbound fantasy reminds us of our frightening ever present quest for self. The play won three Jessie Awards for Performance, Set Design and Lighting in 2004. This PuSh-commissioned presentation reimagines the critically acclaimed original production.
In the summer of 2005 actor/writer James Long salvaged a collection of seven photo albums and travel journals from an alley near his East Vancouver home. What started as a simple trip to the country carried the creators on narrative jags across propriety, oceans, and beyond.
small metal objects
Back to Back Theatre (Australia)
For small metal objects, the venue is the city. Audience members equipped with headphones become an installation for the general public; the general public becomes the extras within a dramatic narrative. It is a theatrical masterpiece that examines the role spectator and spectacle.
January 30-February 1, 5pm; February 2-3 1pm & 3:30pm
Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch Promenade
Tickets $28/$22 Tickets Tonight www.pushfestival.ca
January 17–26, 2008, 7:30pm
Telus Studio Theatre, The Chan Centre
Preview
January 16, 2008, 7:30pm
Post-show Talkback
January 22, 2008
No show Sunday
Tickets $25/$20/$15
Theatre at UBC Box Office
604.822.2678
Western Gold Theatre and Theatre at UBC present the premiere of James Fagan Tait’s adaptation of the novel Old Goriot, by Honoré de Balzac.
This theatrical adaptation of Balzac’s utterly gripping masterpiece builds on the success of Tait and composer Joelysa Pankanea’s unforgettable adaptations of Crime and Punishment and A Christmas Carol. The world premiere of this innovative co-production christens UBC’s 100th Anniversary year.
Balzac has been called the Shakespeare of the novel and with Old Goriot he sets the stage for a modern counterpart to King Lear, a father so blindly devoted to his undeserving daughters that his tragic realization—'I loved them too much for them to love me at all'—comes too late. A key novel in his Comédie Humaine, Old Goriot is a witty and profound treatment of two consuming obsessions: money and love. Original music by Joelysa Pankanea deftly illuminates this timeless tale, from the depths of sorrow and despair to moments of great beauty and transcendence.
Last night I experienced my second round of Theatre at UBC's 520's. For those who don't have friends or family involved in the university's theatre program, the 520's are a chance for MFA director candidates to strut their stuff in one act.
Including both times I've been, there seems to be one sophisticated and starkly dramatic piece paired with a fluffy, visually confusing one.
Come see a show that combines all of the fun and audience participation of traditional pantomime with the popularity and familiarity of a truly modern fairy tale!
This is Garry Plotter's first day at Hardly Works School of Magic but he's got more on his plate than just finding out where his locker and homeroom are located. He must stand up to the school bully Drano Badboy and his henchmen Drab and Boyle, stop the evil wizard Luscious Badboy and Evil Wizard Formerly Known as He Who Must Not Be Mentioned from taking over all the other panto lands, hide the fact his school is magic from his insufferable Aunt Patootie and Uncle Vermin - and if there is time...maybe even fall in love.
Remember this show is completely interactive - Cheer for the good guys, boo the bad guys and talk to the characters as much you like...just be careful as they will almost always talk back!
A part- video, part- onstage theatrical presentation based on the play “Platonov” by Anton Chekhov
November 3, 4
The Russian Community Center at 2114 West 4rth Avenue, Vancouver
Tickets yo be ordered by::604-763-1462,604-438-4363
Synopsis: “By The Lake” explores the lives of the Russian elite during the climactic years prior to the revolution. The play is actually a compilation of several of Chekhov’s works, the major one being “Platonov,” but also including episodes from “The Cherry Orchard,” “The Three Sisters,” “Uncle Vanya” and some short stories. Together these help to build a picture of the physical and psychological states of the aristocracy prior to its downfall and to show the true theatrical mastery of Anton Chekhov.
Script and Direction- Oleg Palme, Lilya Akhatchinskaya
Video Operator- Michael Khodakovskii
Video Montage- Oleg Solodchenko
Audio Operator- Alis Soiourova
Light Operator- Egor Revenko
Video/Stage Coordination- Alexander Puga
Costumes- Larisa Bushmina
Hair- Olga Lashkova
Make-up- Elena Akhatchinskaya
Director’s Aide- Arseniy Lashkov
CAST
Platonov- Eugene Graboviy
Anna Petrovna- Olesya Romashka
Triletskiy- Andrei Akhatchinskiy
Voinitsev- Maksim Bashmakov
Dogeaters (a play based on a famous Filipino novel by Jessica Hagedorn) at Langara's fantastic Studio 58 is a must see if you are interested at all in the Philippines. And a bargain at less than $20! The play is unsettling, funny, melodramatic, corny, religious, profane, profound, and sacrilegious, and shows the seamy, corrupt side of the Filipino style of religion, military, politics, and nepotism. In short it mirrors my relationship to my Filipino heritage :-) And the flashbacks and parallels to Benigno Aquino and his life are uncanny and chilling.
Quibbles: accents were off, in particular the frequent mis-pronunciation of "lang" and "di ba" was grating. C'mon there are over 50,000 Canadians of Filipino heritage in Metro Vancouver, could we not have had at least one Filipino actor who could do the accent perfectly? Please? Next time?
Music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams
Book by David Newman and Robert Benton (based on the comic strip Superman)
Superman is in trouble. A reporter is out to uncover his identity, while another girl is trying to steal him away from Lois, meanwhile, an evil mad scientist is trying to take over the world. What is Superman to do? Save the world...of course!
